I have read the prior discussions linked from https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Todo#Views_and_Rules
What I would like to do is put the specific case for handling 3 common 'alter column' changes when that column is referenced in a view. Take the case of: create table base_table ( id bigserial, acol varchar(10), bcol int, ccol varchar(1000)); create or replace view base_view as select id, acol, bcol, ccol from base_table; create or replace view dep_view as select id, length(acol), bcol, ccol from base_view; I would like to review the 3 specific cases: alter table base_table alter column acol type varchar(20); -- was varchar(10) alter table base_table alter column bcol type bigint; -- was int alter table base_table alter column ccol type text; -- was varchar(1000) At the moment these 3 statements all require that the views be dropped first and then re-created last. The first case looks like: -- for the varchar(10) to varchar(20) change drop view dep_view; drop view base_view; alter table base_table ALTER COLUMN bcol type varchar(20); create or replace view base_view as select id, acol, bcol from base_table; create or replace view dep_view as select id, length(acol) from base_view; In practical terms this need to drop and re-create the views gets harder/bigger with more view dependencies. With large complex schema's this becomes a rather large pain. Having read all the previous discussions on the general topic of altering tables with dependent views I realise this is a complex and difficult issue in general but I'd like to see if there was some support for looking at these 3 more specific changes. 1. making a varchar column larger e.g. varchar(10) -> varchar(20) 2. changing int to bigint 3. changing varchar to text I have seen that there are people motivated enough to update pg_attribute directly (update pg_attribute a set a.atttypmod = 20 + 4 ...). What are the thoughts on support these 3 specific cases? Thanks, Rob.
